The lucky find that led me to a celebrated ancestor

Co Down mother-of-two Susie Cunningham’s great-grandfather, Sir Crawford McCullagh, was a witness to history during an incredible 17 years as Belfast’s Lord Mayor... but almost as unbelievable was the bizarre coincidence that led to her unearthing his fas

THE amazing coincidence that sparked Susie Cunningham’s interest in writing a biography of her influential great-grandfather, who was a prominent civic and political leader in Northern Ireland during the wars and who was dubbed “Belfast’s Dick Whittington”, is worthy of a chapter all of its own.

For it was that one-in-a-million happenstance that convinced her to press ahead with the fascinating life story of Sir Crawford McCullagh, a former Belfast Lord Mayor and the man who came up with the idea of a silent tribute to honour the war dead.

Susie had only the scantest knowledge of her ancestor’s background, but it was when she and her husband Alan bought a new house in Comber that fate took a hand and presented her with a serendipitous sign that she should definitely write her book.

Susie says: “After we fell in love with the house, the vendors asked if we would be interested in having a large collection of books which they’d acquired. And we said yes, because they were so lovely to look at.”

What Susie didn’t initially realise was that the books had belonged to Sir Crawford before her father — who had inherited them — sold them at auction.

She says: “I didn’t know anything about the books and I couldn’t believe it when it emerged that they were actually from a private collection linked to my own family. I even stumbled on my great-grandmother’s Bible and prayer book from Helen’s Bay Presbyterian Church.”

The find kickstarted Susie’s voyage of discovery in 1997, but three years later there was another stroke of good fortune when she received a call from a woman in Canada who had papers and Press clippings about Sir Crawford.

Susie says: “She told me she was coming over to Ireland and that I could have all the material if I wanted it. It turned out that the woman was a relative of ours.”

In among the diaries and letters she handed on to Susie was an old manuscript from Belfast journalist Alfred S Moore for a book about Sir Crawford, who never gave his approval for its publication.

The manuscript was a godsend for Susie, who’d been disheartened to learn that many more of McCullagh’s personal documents had been burned in a fire.

So, Moore’s musings proved to be a crucial research tool when Susie was piecing together the story of Sir Crawford, who’s still acknowledged as the longest-serving Lord Mayor in the UK, having been in office for no fewer than three different terms, spanning 17 years and guiding Belfast through two World Wars.

McCullagh, who was a front-row eye- witness to earlier history in Belfast, too, was present for the launch of the ill-fated Titanic in May 1911 and for the signing of the Ulster Covenant at the City Hall in September 1912, as well as Edward Carson’s anti-Home Rule rallies.

It was during the Great War that McCullagh advocated a five-minute silence in honour of the thousands of soldiers who died at the Somme in 1916, and his tribute was later adapted to a two-minute silence, which is still a potent symbol of respect for the fallen worldwide.

In Belfast’s City Hall two large stained-glass windows, which depict Sir Crawford and his wife Lady Margaret, were commissioned in recognition of his public service and for his development of the commercial centre of the city before he died in 1948 at the age of 79.

His drive and vision are also credited with pioneering many familiar landmarks including the development of the zoo at Bellevue and the Floral Hall after he’d negotiated the donation of Belfast Castle and its 200-acre demesne to

He was an optimist and helped Belfast through some really hard times, rallying people after two World Wars